Proton's Privacy-First AI Chatbot Lumo Gets Major Upgrade with Image Tools and Faster Performance

Proton has released Lumo 2.0, a significant overhaul of its privacy-focused AI chatbot that brings fresh capabilities while keeping user data protected. The upgrade marks a step forward for a platform built on the principle that strong privacy and advanced AI need not be mutually exclusive.

New Visual Capabilities and Speed Gains#

The refreshed chatbot now handles image-based tasks alongside its text conversation features. Users can upload pictures for analysis or modification, and Lumo can generate images in response to written prompts—features increasingly common across the chatbot landscape. Beyond visual additions, Lumo 2.0 answers queries substantially faster, delivering responses up to 76 percent quicker than the previous version. The update also introduces a "thinking mode" designed to tackle more demanding queries that benefit from deeper reasoning.

Enhanced Project Integration#

Lumo's Projects feature—which lets users organize documents and collaborate across Proton's ecosystem of email and cloud storage tools—has grown more intelligent. The 2.0 version now includes persistent memory that users control, enabling the chatbot to remember preferences and context across separate conversations. This function helps reduce repetition and personalizes the experience over time.

Privacy-by-Design Philosophy#

Where Lumo stands apart from mainstream competitors like ChatGPT and Gemini is its privacy architecture. Proton uses zero-access encryption to secure all data in transit and at rest, ensuring only the user can decrypt their information. The company maintains that it doesn't log conversations on its servers, preventing internal access to chat contents. Lumo also never trains on customer data nor shares it with outside parties—a stark contrast to many commercial AI providers' data usage practices.

Availability and Pricing#

Lumo 2.0 is available immediately in a free tier, alongside paid Plus and Professional options that offer expanded resource allocation and feature access.